Henrik Lyding from Jylland's Posten liked "Symphony in C", and appreciated the dancing in "La Sonnambula", if not the ballet itself. He has less than positive things to say about the corps in "Symphony in Three Movements" with regards to the lack of synchronization. I have to wonder whether he's ever seen NYCB perform the piece, because the Balanchinian style tends to focus on speed over synchrony. From his review it's hard to tell whether the RDB was sacrificing synchrony for speed, or just need more rehearsal.

Casting has been posted, but it may well change as there are still un-cast dates and some obvious errors (Hilary Guswiler cannot be doing both the Erik Bruhn Competition and a performance on the same night!)

Overall though, so great casting, including a chance to see Thomas Lund, Alban Lendorf in both 'Symphony in C' 3rd movement as as the Harlequin in 'La Sonnambula', Chris Rickert in 'Symphony in Three Movements' and a host of principals and soloists sprinkled throughout. It will be nearly the last chance to see Silja Schandorff as a principal.:

from the Berlingske Tidende, where Vibeke Vern gives the programme 5 out of 6 stars. She praises many of the dancers, including Yao Wei and Thomas Lund in 'Symphony in Three Movements', Marcin Kupinski and Alban Lendorf in 'La Sonnambula' and the cast of 'Symphony in C'. :

In general, a good review, though I often feel that Macaulay doesn't bother to do his research before writing his articles. Most glaringly here, he talks about "dead wood", but it's prudent to remember that these dancers are essentially civil servants, which means that they cannot be let go because of their age and are entitled to a pension at 40. So they tend to dance longer, even in the corps, than at British or American companies. Some of the older corps members may not be what they once were energy and technique wise, but they usually more than make up for that in experience and ability to take on character roles.

Also, the character in "La Sonnambula" is a Harlequin (nearly identically spelled in either English or Danish), not just an acrobat. I think this distinction is important because a Harlequin represents a bit more than just a bit of bravua dancing - historically the character of Harlequin was possibly thought to have emerged from a character who was the emissary of the devil, and there's usually something sad in his cheeriness. So Balanchine's choosing a Harlequin for "La Sonnambula" was probably quite intentional.

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